‘Pashtun Papa’: Walmart withdraws offensive product

(EDITOR’S NOTE: As an ethnic Pashtun I’d like to keep my commentary as brief as possible. Personally, I don’t like the word “racism” because it validates a very weak and colonized paradigm in which the hated minority underclasses must beg their tyrannical overlords for pluralistic mercy. No brown peoples need this validation as our histories are rich with advanced culture, scientific discoveries, elegant civilization, and widespread knowledge. To the extent these caricatures feed into the Empire’s drone bombings on ethnic Pashtun enclaves in Afghanistan and Pakistan we suggest the promulgation of accurate portrayals of historical Pashtun culture and religion. We can enlighten others to the principled and disciplined intricate tribal systems that have ennobled Mouqawamah in our regions and prevented our total conquest in the original diaspora since our exile and subsequent dispersal from Palestine over 2000 years ago. Even Organized Jewry has developed a fascination with this subject attempting to appropriate and reframe our narrative. This Halloween product is yet another example of the Talmudist leddrive to normalize the stereotyping of Muslims in the West to prevent organic dialogue from shaping positive views of our distant and mysterious Muslim world. While Twitter vigilance has its place, the real eradication of these memes will come about when the isolated communities that drive these false narratives decide to expand their awareness and learn from the beautiful melinated peoples and their distinct imprint on human life. ~Khanverse)

The giant American retailer Walmart has been forced to withdraw its “Pashtun Papa” Halloween costume after being accused of peddling racist stereotypes.

The outfit sold for $39.95 (£25) and featured the loose-fitting shalwar kameez of the sort favoured by Muslims living in South Asia, along with a waistcoat, cap and shaggy grey beard.

“Whether you’re making a serious political statement or staging a political parody,” said the online description, “this authentic-looking outfit is sure to fit the bill!”

“Nothing is sacred this Halloween. Shock your friends with this Islamic costume.”

The Pashtun tribe live predominantly in north-west Pakistan and across Afghanistan, and make up the bulk of the Taliban.

The image sparked outrage – particularly in Muslim countries where thousands of people took to Twitter to condemn the outfit.

“This is offensive and discriminatory,” said one user. “Will you even think of having a KKK costume.”

Many Muslims said they were horrified at the idea that an “Islamic costume” would scare people at Halloween, and instead suggested sarcastically that people should go out trick or treating dressed as “moderate Muslims”.

As the criticism mounted throughout the day, Walmart was forced on to the defensive.

A spokeswoman told Buzzfeed that the costume had been sold by a third-party vendor and that it would be removed from the company’s website immediately.

‘We have strict policies with our third party vendors, and it’s very important to us that products on the site don’t offend groups of people, or minorities.’ she said.

A short time later Walmart announced via Twitter that the offending item was no longer available and apologised to customers.